Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor was visiting New York when Thailand announced on Thursday that it had revoked his citizenship. Kantor is the Chabad leader and chief rabbi of Thailand’s Jewish community.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the order on Wednesday, 28 October, under Section 19 of the Nationality Act BE 2508 (1965). Anutin, who is also interior minister, won February’s elections on a nationalist platform.
The government’s case is that Kantor kept using his US passport after becoming a Thai citizen. Thai law bars naturalised citizens from continuing to use their former nationality.
Kantor arrived in Thailand in 1993 to serve as rabbi for the Jewish community. He acquired citizenship through naturalisation under Section 10 of the Nationality Act, with the grant published in the Royal Gazette on April 11, 2013. His first Thai national identity card was issued on May 2, 2013.
After that naturalisation, the Interior Ministry said Kantor used his US passport up to 16 times to travel to Australia. The Department of Special Investigation identified 16 instances in which he used the passport to enter and leave destinations in Australia, with the latest documented case occurring on January 26.
Rabbi Nehemya Wilhelm, a spokesperson for Thailand’s Jewish community, said Kantor had lived in the country for more than 30 years and had used his US passport to visit the United States and Australia. Wilhelm said Kantor could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.
The revocation followed raids earlier in October on three Jewish organisations in Bangkok, including Chabad House, where Kantor works. On October 8, the Department of Special Investigation conducted joint searches at three locations examining company control, land holdings, donations and financial transactions.
Police said the Chabad Foundation Bangkok employed three Myanmar workers without work permits. Wilhelm said Chabad House legally employed about 40 workers and had paid a fine over the three workers, whose documents had been in the midst of processing.
At Gan Chabad, a Jewish school, police seized tax filings along with land-purchase and building-construction records. At Gan Chabad Co Ltd’s office in Bangkok’s Bang Rak district, the Department of Special Investigation said it found records for more than 60 companies registered at one address.
The Interior Ministry’s order on Kantor does not announce criminal findings from the separate inquiries into business, land or financial matters.
Anutin told reporters on Thursday: ‘Any illegal act, whatever it involves, must be dealt with firmly’.
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